System and method for sharing investment information via a social network

ABSTRACT

A system and method allows users to share watchlists with other users of a group such as that established on a social network server, and receives and displays other related information.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/942,519 entitled “System and Method for Sharing InvestmentInformation Via a Social Network”, filed by Kenneth M. Bravmann, SandeepReddy Chelamacherla Anand and Charles E. Gotlieb on Mar. 31, 2018, whichis a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/580,122entitled “System and Method for Sharing Investment Information Via aSocial Network” filed by Kenneth M. Bravmann, Sandeep ReddyChelamacherla Anand, and Charles E. Gotlieb on Dec. 22, 2014, whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/919,811entitled, Method and Apparatus for Sharing investment Information Via aSocial Network, filed by Kenneth M. Bravmann, Sandeep ReddyChelamacherla Anand, and Charles E. Gotlieb on Dec. 22, 2013 and isrelated to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/145,872 entitled, “Systemand Method for Securing Information Provided Via a Social NetworkApplication” filed by Kenneth M. Bravmann, Benjamin N. Mattias, JeffreyM. Weaver, Sandeep Reddy Chelamacherla Anand, John Murphy and Charles E.Gotlieb on Dec. 31, 2013, which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/748,057 entitled, “Method and Apparatusfor Securing Information Provided Via a Social Network Application”filed by Kenneth M. Bravmann, Benjamin N. Mattias, Jeffrey M. Weaver,Sandeep Reddy Chelamacherla Anand, John Murphy and Charles E. Gotlieb onDec. 31, 2012, each having the same assignee as the present inventionand each is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to computer hardware and software andmore specifically to computer software for sharing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It can be desirable to share securities information with other people.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

A system and method allows users to set up groups of users on one ormore social networks, among which they can share investment information.To allow the user to share information, the user may install and grantpermissions to an application in a social network, such as FACEBOOK, andthe application may provide the functionality described herein or thesystem and method may operate without a separate social network.

The user may set up groups on the social network and allow other usersto join. The user may log into the social network and run theapplication at any time. The permissions may include permissions toallow the user to share information about securities with members ofgroups the user specifies or with members of any group, as long as theuser is also a member of the group.

Via the application, the user may then log into an account at anon-social network server, such as a server from which the user mayinteract with an account at a financial institution, such as SCHWAB.COM.The application associates the user's account at the financialinstitution with the user's social network account and stores theassociation for future use. The user need only start the application tomake use of the association, after the association has been made.

In one embodiment, a user can maintain at a server of the non-socialnetwork one or more lists of securities called ‘watchlists’ that theuser uses to share securities information as described herein. If theuser has multiple watchlists, the user may also designate whichwatchlists will be shared with other users of other groups and suchdesignations are enforced.

The user may then view information about securities according to aviewing mode, Viewing modes may include a mode to allow the user to viewinformation about securities added to a watchlist by only that user,securities added to a watchlist by any user who is a member of anysocial network group of which the user is also a member and wasspecified as a group of one or more with which the user grantedpermission to share securities information, either listed in a singlelist or segregated by group (in the event the user granted permission tomultiple groups).

The user may add securities to, or remove securities from, a watchlisteither via the application or via the non-social network server and thechanges are stored at the non-social network server. Information aboutwhich user has which security on a watchlist is retrieved by theapplication from the non-social network server and so changes made to awatchlist are visible from the non-social network server (by the usermaking the change) as well as the application on the social network.

Users in a group may comment on a security, and the comments arereceived and stored associated with the user and the security. Anymember of a group will see all of the securities on the watchlists ofall members who granted permission to such group, and will also see thecomments from any member of such group. The user may also see anindication of which users have a security on their watchlist, currentprice and price change information of that security, and otherinformation about each security listed.

The user may change viewing modes and the information about securitiesis displayed according to the most recent mode selected. The user mayalso rate other users in the group or groups with which securitiesinformation is being shared. The individual securities displayed to auser may be ordered in accordance with the ratings (from the user towhom the securities are displayed or from all users of any group theuser to whom the securities are being displayed has granted permission)of people who have that security on their watchlist or have commented onthe security, so that users who either have a security on their watchlists or commented and who are rated higher (by the user to whom thesecurities are displayed or by all such users described above) willcause a security and its comments to be listed earlier on the list ofsecurities than other securities being listed according to the mode theuser has selected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block schematic diagram of a conventional computer system.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying securitiesfrom multiple sources information according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a representative screen display of the application accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a bock schematic diagram of a system for displaying securitiesinformation from multiple sources according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a block schematic diagram of an application server systemaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention may be implemented as computer software on aconventional computer system, or as hardware processors coupled todigital storage devices, operating as described herein. Referring now toFIG. 1, a conventional computer system 150 for practicing the presentinvention is shown. Processor 160 retrieves and executes softwareinstructions stored in storage 162 such as memory, which may be RandomAccess Memory (RAM) and may control other components to perform thepresent invention. Storage 162 may be used to store program instructionsor data or both. Storage 164, such as a computer disk drive or othernonvolatile storage, may provide storage of data or programinstructions. In one embodiment, storage 164 provides longer termstorage of instructions and data, with storage 162 providing storage fordata or instructions that may only be required for a shorter time thanthat of storage 164. All storage elements described herein include anytype of such storage and some or all elements described herein mayinclude a hardware processor. Input device 166 such as a computerkeyboard or mouse or both allows user input to the system 150. Output168, such as a display or printer, allows the system to provideinformation such as instructions, data or other information to the userof the system 150. Storage input device 170 such as a conventionalfloppy disk drive or CD-ROM drive accepts via input 172 computer programproducts 174 such as a conventional floppy disk or CD-ROM or othernonvolatile storage media that may be used to transport computerinstructions or data to the system 150. Computer program product 174 hasencoded thereon computer readable program code devices 176, such asmagnetic charges in the case of a floppy disk or optical encodings inthe case of a CD-ROM which are encoded as program instructions, data orboth to configure the computer system 150 to operate as described below.All storage elements listed below may include memory or disk storage andmay include a conventional database. System elements may include inputs,outputs, input/outputs and a hardware processor.

In one embodiment, each computer system 150 is a conventional SUNMICROSYSTEMS T SERIES SERVER running the SOLARIS operating systemcommercially available from ORACLE CORPORATION of Redwood Shores,Calif., a PENTIUM-compatible personal computer system such as areavailable from DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION of Round Rock, Tex. running aversion of the WINDOWS operating system (such as XP, VISTA, or 7)commercially available from MICROSOFT Corporation of Redmond Wash. or aMacintosh computer system running the MACOS or OPENSTEP operating systemcommercially available from APPLE INCORPORATED of Cupertino, Calif. andthe FIREFOX browser commercially available from MOZILLA FOUNDATION ofMountain View, Calif. or INTERNET EXPLORER browser commerciallyavailable from MICROSOFT above, although other systems may be used. Eachcomputer system 150 may be a SAMSUNG GALAXY NEXUS II commerciallyavailable from SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS GLOBAL of Seoul, Korea running theANDROID operating system commercially available from GOOGLE, INC. ofMountain View, Calif. Various computer systems may be employed, with thevarious computer systems communicating with one another via theInternet, a conventional cellular telephone network, an Ethernetnetwork, or all of these.

Social Network Users Install Application, Grant Permission to SocialNetwork to Allow Application to See Group Participants.

At any time, a social network application as described herein may beinstalled by a user (“social network user”) having a social networkaccount at a social network, such as any FACEBOOK users or any othersocial network users, and social network permissions to allow theapplication to access social network groups information corresponding tothe social network user installing the application, including any socialnetwork groups of which the user is a member and other social networkusers that are also members of such groups, may be granted by the user210. Any number of users may perform step 210. The social networkapplication operates as described herein.

In one embodiment, the user grants permissions on a group by group basisfor any group of which the user is a member, so that certain groups aregranted permissions, but not all groups need be granted permissions. Theuser may add or remove permissions for a group at any time.

At Social Network, Set Up Groups, Allow Participants to Join.

At the social network, any number of social network groups may be set upby any number of social network users at any time, and other socialnetwork participants or group members may be allowed to join such groupsat any time via conventional social network means 212. Steps 210 and 212may operate as independently operating processes as shown by the dashedlines in the Figure. As used herein, a group is a feature of a socialnetwork that allows users to add themselves (optionally via permissionof a moderator) or be added to a group and once added, see posts made tothat group by other members of a group.

User Logs Into Social Network, Runs Application.

After the user has installed the application as part of step 210, orinstalled the application and also set up and/or joined any socialnetwork groups as part of step 212, or at any time subsequent to thesteps described above, the user log in information may be received atthe social network, and the installed application may be run 214 andoperates as described herein. In one embodiment, when the application isrun by a social network user, a check may be performed to determinewhether the social network account corresponding to the logged in useris associated with a non-social network account, described below.

If not Associated with a Non-Social Network Account, then Receive Log inat Non-Social Network, Authenticate, and Associate Non-Social NetworkIdentifier with Social Network Account Identifier.

If the user's social network account is not associated with a non-socialnetwork account 216, then non-social network account log in informationis received from the user at the non-social network via the applicationand authenticated, and when the user's non-social network log ininformation is authenticated, the user's social network accountidentifier is associated with a received non-social network accountidentifier of that user 218. As used herein, a non-social network” isany application or applications running on a conventional network serverbut not running under a social network or the social network describedherein. A non-social network need not be part of a network.

In one embodiment, when non-social network log in information is firstreceived and authenticated at the non-social network as described hereinand in the related application, an alternate non-social network accountidentifier may be issued by the non-social network to link the user'ssocial network account with the user's non-social network accountwithout supplying the actual account identifier of the user at thenon-social network. Such alternate identifier may be saved associatedwith the user's non-social network account at the non-social network andused to identify such account at the non-social network in any furthercommunications with the application as described herein.

In one embodiment, if the user does not provide non-social networkaccount log in information, or if non-social network account log ininformation provided by the user is not authenticated, such as describedin the related application, then no non-social network accountidentifier is associated with the user's social network accountidentifier at the application, and, for that user, the method may stopor wait until such non-social network account log in information isreceived and authenticated.

If Associated with Non-Social Network Account, then Retrieve Groups AndMembers From Social Network, Sort And Display Watchlist Symbols,Comments of the User, Comments of Others in Group(S) Using Last ModeUsed; Receive Action.

If the user's social network account is authenticated or has previouslybeen authenticated with a non-social network account 216, then a timeoutperiod for displaying the user's watchlist is set; social network groupsinformation, including names or other identifiers corresponding to anysocial network groups of which the user is a member and for whom otherusers have designated such group or groups as those for which theirwatchlist information should be shared as described herein, andoptionally the user identifiers of other members of such groups, isretrieved; the socially shared watchlist information is displayed in aviewing mode selected by the user as described in more detail below; andone of any number of actions from the user may be received 220. In oneembodiment, the timeout period is set as the amount of time betweenautomatic iterations of identifying, sorting, and redisplaying theuser's socially shared watchlist as described in more detail below. Forexample, the timeout period may be set to thirty seconds from thecurrent time, or one minute from the current time, or any other amountof time.

In one embodiment, the user's social network groups information may beretrieved and compared with the social network groups informationpreviously retrieved and stored for the user. Any social network groupsof which the user is no longer a member may be removed from the user'sstored social network groups information, and any new social networkgroups joined by the user may be added. The user may provide anindication corresponding to each social network group of whether theuser's watchlist information is to be socially shared as describedherein with the other members of each group of which the user is amember as described above. Such indications received from the user maybe also be stored with the user's social network groups information.

To display the socially shared watchlist information of the user, eachof any ticker symbols included in the user's individual shared ornon-socially shared watchlist or whatchlists, each of which may be aconventional watchist defined by the user via the user's non-socialnetwork, the application, or both, are identified, along with any tickersymbols included in any other individual watchlists defined by otherusers who are members of the same social network group or groups as theuser, and for which such groups were designated by the other users asdescribed herein as ones with whom such watchlists should be shared aspart of the permissions received from those users, and all such tickersymbols identified may be sorted as described in more detail below anddisplayed (in sorted order; according to the last viewing mode indicatedby the user (described in more detail herein and below) along with anycomments corresponding to such ticker symbols that have been made by theuser and/or other members of the user's social network groups.

Any number of actions may be received from the user, such as an actionto make a change to the user's watchlist, an action to rate another userwho is a member of at least one of the user's social network groups, anaction to change the display mode corresponding to the user's sociallyshared watchlist, an action to comment on a ticker symbol included inthe user's socially shared watchlist, and/or any other user action.

If Action Received is Change to Watchlist, Receive Watchlist Change, AndStore Associated With Non-social Network Account.

If the user action received is a request to make a change to the user'sindividual watchlist 222, such as adding new ticker symbols to suchwatchlist and/or deleting any ticker symbols currently included from theuser's individual watchlist, then such change to the user's watchlist isreceived, implemented, and stored associated with the user's non-socialnetwork account identifier 230. In one embodiment, items (i.e. tickersymbols) may be added to the user's watchlist by manually typing in theticker abbreviation or symbol that the user wishes to add, or bysearching for the ticker symbol, such as by typing in the name of thecompany or corporation associated with such ticker, or ticker symbolsmay be suggested to the user that the user may click on to add based onthe current contents of the user's individual or group watchlists orbased on any other information, or the user may add items to the user'swatchlist in any other manner.

To delete items from the user's watchlist, a delete and/or edit buttonmay be displayed to the user corresponding to each of any items includedin the user's watchlist that the user may click to delete the associateditem from the user's watchlist, or items may be deleted from the user'swatchlist in any other manner.

In one embodiment, any changes to the user's individual watchlist thatare received at the application via the application may be stored at theuser's non-social network associated with the user's non-social networkaccount identifier such that the changes may also be implemented anddisplayed to the user at the user's non-social network any time the userviews his or her watchlist via such non-social network.

If Action Received Is to Rate Other User, Then Receive Rating And OtherUser Identifier, And Store Associated With Non-social Network AccountIdentifiers.

If the action is received from the user as a request to rate anothermember of the user's social network group or groups, or to change therating corresponding to another member if the other member has beenpreviously rated by the user 222, then the user's rating of such othermember is received and stored 232 associated with the user's non-socialnetwork account identifier and the identifier of such other member. Inone embodiment, the user's rating of other members may be received on arating scale, such as a scale of one to five stars with one star beingthe poorest rating and five stars being the highest rating, or a scaleof zero to ten dollars with ten dollars indicating other members whoseopinions the user most values and zero dollars representing othermembers whose opinions the user does not value, or any number of otherrating scales may be used. In one embodiment, the user may provide arating for any other social network users that are also members of oneor more of the user's social network groups and who have designated onesuch group as one with which their watchlist should be shared; however,the user is not required to rate any other members, and in such a casewhere the user has not rated another member, such member's rating withrespect to the user may be initialized to a not rated rating, or ratingin the middle of the rating scale.

In one embodiment, to receive ratings, a new browser window may bepopped by the application which includes information from one or moreother members' social network profiles, as well as any current ratingsof the user associated with such other member(s), and the user may ratethe other member(s) displayed, such as by selecting a rating on a ratingscale for each other member, or by entering a rating for another member,or in any other manner. Any ratings of other members received from theuser may be stored at the application associated with the user's socialor non-social network account identifier, as well as the social ornon-social network account identifier corresponding to the rated user.

If Action Received Is to Set Viewing Mode, Then Receive Mode And StoreAssociated With Non-social Network Account.

If the action received from the user is to set the viewing modecorresponding to the user's socially shared watchlist information 222,then the viewing mode selected by the user is received and storedassociated with the user's social and/or non-social network account 234.In one embodiment, the user may select the viewing mode by clicking abutton to alternate among various modes of viewing the user's sociallyshared watchlist, or by clicking one of any viewing mode icons displayedwhich each correspond to a different viewing mode, or in any othermanner.

Viewing modes corresponding to a user's socially shared watchlist mayinclude any number of modes for displaying the ticker symbols includedin the user's individual watchlist, as well as the ticker symbols whichmay be included in the individual watchlist(s) of any other users whoare in one or more of the same social network groups as the user, themembers of such groups being group members with whom each such otheruser has indicated to share watchlist information.

In one embodiment, the user may select one of any number of viewingmodes, such as a mode to view only the ticker symbols included in theuser's individual watchlist, or to view the ticker symbols included inthe user's individual watchlist as well as the ticker symbolscorresponding to any other members of any groups with which the user hasopted to share watchlist information and whose members have also agreedto share such information with the user. For any viewing mode displayingthe ticker symbols included in any other users' watchlists, suchsocially shared watchlist information may be displayed organized bysocial network groups, such that ticker symbols are displayed ingroupings corresponding to the social network group or groups sharingeach ticker symbol, or the socially shared watchlist information may bedisplayed organized according to the other user or other users that aresharing each ticker symbol, or all ticker symbols from the watchlistsocially shared with other members of any groups with whom the user issharing watchlist information may be displayed in a particular order,for example, alphabetical order, or chronological order with respect tothe order in which the items were added to the user's socially sharedwatchlist, or in no particular order, or the user's socially sharedwatchlist may be displayed in any other manner. In one embodiment, todisplay socially shared watchlist information organized by socialnetwork groups, the ticker symbols included for more than one of theuser's social network groups may appear more than once in the display ofthe user's socially shared watchlist information.

To display socially shared watchlist information organized by user,ticker symbols may be displayed in one or more groupings which are basedon the other social network group member or members through which suchticker symbols are included in the user's socially shared watchlist. Inone embodiment, ticker symbols corresponding to other users rated mosthighly by the user may be displayed before ticker symbols correspondingto other users not rated as highly by the user, as described in moredetail below with respect to FIG. 3, or such ticker symbols may bedisplayed for each user, with the users listed in order of their ratingsupplied by that user, or ticker symbols organized and displayed by usermay be ordered in any other manner, such as alphabetically, by the firstname of the other user adding such ticker symbol to the socially sharedwatchlist, or in any other manner.

In one embodiment, the user's socially shared watchlist will next bedisplayed using the most recent viewing mode selected by the user (andstored corresponding to the user) until the user selects a differentviewing mode. If no such mode is selected, a default mode is assigned.

Comments from other users or from other users in a group (for a mode inwhich watchlists are segregated by group) are displayed with the tickersymbol as described in more detail below. In one embodiment, commentsmade by the user and/or comments made by other users that are members ofone or more of the user's social network groups are displayed inchronological order, associated with both the ticker symbol for whichsuch comment was made and the user that made it.

If Action Received Is to Comment on Ticker Symbol, Then Receive CommentAnd Store Associated With Ticker And Non-social Network Account.

If the user action is a received comment corresponding to a tickersymbol in the user's socially shared watchlist 222, then such comment isreceived at the application, along with the ticker symbol for which suchcomment applies, and the received comment is stored associated with theticker symbol for which the comment was made and the social and/ornon-social network account identifier of the commenting user 236. Suchcomments are displayed as described herein.

Following steps 230-236, the method continues at step 220 using newlyupdated information received in any such step as well as informationfrom other users as described herein, which may be updated by such otherusers in a similar fashion.

If Timeout.

If the end of the timeout period is reached 222, then the methodcontinues at step 220, which includes setting a new timeout period.

In one embodiment, a user may have multiple watchlists, and the user mayshare some, all or none of them with a group of which the user is amember. In one embodiment, one watch list of the user may be shared withone such group and a different watchlist may be shared with a differentgroup.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary screen shot of shared watchlists provided by themethod and system of the present invention according to one embodimentof the present invention.

The socially shared watchlist 300 of FIG. 3 includes three items orticker symbol blocks 310, 312, and 314, each ticker symbol blockidentified by a ticker symbol: block 310 is identified by the tickersymbol SCHW 320 (corresponding to shares of stock in CHARLES SCHWAB),along with the current price per share, or the last day's closing priceper share, of such stock 322, displayed at as 14.50 (US dollars pershare), and the price of such stock with respect to the previous day'sclosing price of such stock 324, displayed in FIG. 3 as +0.25.

Social network profile pictures 326, 328, and 300 corresponding to eachsocial network group member that has included SCHW in his or herindividual watchlist that is shared with the group, are displayed to theright of such ticker symbol and its corresponding price per share andprice relative to the prior close information, and any comments 364 withrespect to such ticker symbol made by the user or any other member ormembers of the social network groups socially sharing such ticker symbolvia their watchlists are displayed, along with the social networkprofile picture of the user making such comment 340, such as below theticker symbol 320 by which such ticker symbol block 310 is identified.Additionally, suitable user interface elements 346 to allow the user toadd a comment corresponding to such ticker symbol is also displayed.

As mentioned above with respect to FIG. 2, ticker symbols included insocially shared watchlist information for a user may be sorted anddisplayed according to any number of factors and the viewing modeselected by the user. As displayed in the exemplary screen shot of FIG.3, ticker symbol blocks, 310, 312, and 314 may be sorted and displayedfor a user viewing socially shared watchlist information according tothe rating corresponding to each ticker symbol in such socially sharedwatchlist, factors of such ticker symbol ratings including the number ofother users sharing each ticker symbol from his or her individualwatchlist and the other user rating, as received from the viewing userif the viewing user has provided such a rating, with respect to suchother users sharing such ticker symbol from his or her individualwatchlist.

Ticker symbol blocks 310 and 312 may be rated higher than, and displayedsorted before, ticker symbol block 314 because the number of othersocial network group members who have added to their watch lists theticker symbol corresponding to such blocks (three other users sharingSCHW, as shown by profile pictures 340, 342, and 344; and three otherusers sharing CSCO, as shown by profile pictures 350, 352, and 354) isgreater than the number of other social network group members sharingORCL (360 and 362 of block 314). Of the two more highly rated tickersymbols in terms of the number of other social network group memberssharing such ticker symbol, two of the profile pictures displayed forSCHW, 326 and 328 of block 310, are also displayed for CSCO, 350 and 352of block 312. In such a case, SCHW 310 may be displayed before CSCO 312if the other social network group member corresponding to profilepicture 330 has been rated more highly by the viewing user than theother social network group member corresponding to profile picture 352.The number of comments and ratings of users making comments may alsoimpact the sorting order, with more comments moving the information fora ticker symbol higher in the ratings than fewer, and the higher ratedusers comments impacting the sort order more than lower rated users. Inone embodiment, if a user has recently added a symbol to a watchlist oradds a comment, the sort order of the information for the correspondingticker symbol will be higher than one for which no recent add or commentis made, with higher rated users recent adds or comments having agreater impact on the sort order than other user's comments or adds totheir watchlists. In one embodiment, ticker symbol blocks 310-314 withmore recent comments may be sorted higher than ticker symbol blocks310-314 with older comments.

A combination of these factors may be used to sort the ticker symbolblocks 310-314. Thus, a recent comment from a highly rated user maycause a ticker symbol block 310-314 corresponding to the comment to besorted first, but a recent comment from a lower rated user may cause theticker symbol block 310-314 corresponding to the comment to be movedhigher in the sorted order than it would have been otherwise, but notnecessarily moved to the top. When sorting ticker symbol blocks 310-314,only the ratings of the user to which the blocks 310-314 are beingdisplayed may be used, or the ratings from all users may be used, withthe user to which the blocks 310-314 are being displayed weighted morethan other users, and the ratings of higher rated users weighted lessthan such user, but more than that of other lower rated users whenidentifying the sorted order for the ticker symbol blocks 310-314.Because different users will have rated other users differently, thiscan cause one user in a group to see ticker symbol blocks in a differentorder than other users in the group. Furthermore, the sorted order ofthe ticker symbol blocks 310-314 may change for a user because anotheruser rated a different user differently or added a comment. In oneembodiment, a chronological order is used to display the comments 364within a ticker symbol block 310-314, with older comments optionallybeing hidden based on their age, but with a user interface elementallowing such older comments to be viewed.

The ticker symbol blocks 310, 312 and 314 may be periodically oroccasionally resorted and redisplayed in the new sorted order, such aswhen the sort order would change due to a new comment or a user addingor removing a ticker symbol.

As mentioned above, a user may provide ratings information, or updateratings information, corresponding to any number of other members of anyof the user's social network groups with which the user is reciprocallysharing social watchlist information at any time, such as by clickingthe “rate user” button or link shown in the Figure as element 372,which, when clicked, provide a user interface allowing the user to rateanother user.

Ratings used for the sorting may be based on the ratings of the userviewing the information or the ratings of all users in any group forwhich the viewing user has granted permission to share social networkinformation and who have also granted permission to any such group. Inone embodiment, the ratings of the user are weighted higher than ratingsof other users, while other users ratings for a third user may be rankedhigher based on the user's rating of that other user.

The viewing user may change the viewing mode corresponding to his or hersocially shared watchlist, as described above, by clicking a displayedchange mode link 374. A change watchlist link 370 may also be displayedto allow the user to change the ticker symbols included in the user'sindividual watch list, as described above.

In one embodiment, any member of the group can comment on a security,even if they did not supply the security on their list.

In one embodiment, users who are not members of a group cannot see thelist of securities or comments that are shown to the members of thegroup nor provide comments or rate in a manner that would affect thedisplay of users of the group.

In one embodiment, persons in a group are fewer than all of the users ofthe social network server, and are defined to the social network serveras described herein.

System.

FIG. 4 is a block schematic diagram of a system for sharing watchlistinformation using social network groups according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

In one embodiment, the system of FIG. 4 contains any number of userdevices 410, application server system 420, any number of social networkservers 440, and non-social network server 450, each of which mayinclude conventional server systems including hardware processors anddigital storage such as disk or memory, with at least systems 440 and450 optimized for high transaction volumes and including a conventionaldatabase, though other arrangements may be used. All systems 410, 420,440, and 450 operate as described herein and communicate via network430, which may include a conventional Ethernet network, the Internet, orboth.

FIG. 5 is a block schematic diagram of a representative applicationserver system 410 of FIG. 4 shown in more detail according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, application server system 420 includes acommunication interface 510 which may include a conventionalcommunication interface running suitable communication protocols, suchas Ethernet, TCP/IP, or both. In one embodiment, unless otherwise notedherein, all communication in and out of application server system 420are made via its input/output 508 of its communication interface.

Using user system 410, which may include a conventional personalcomputer system or smartphone or tablet computer with a conventionalbrowser coupled to the Internet using suitable communication techniques,a user such as the social network user described above may install asocial network application associated with the user's social networkaccount on social network server 440, for example, the user's FACEBOOKaccount on FACEBOOK's server system. In one embodiment, the user mayclick a link to install the application, such link specifying theapplication to install, and social network server 410 may receive suchindication from the user, including the application identifier, considerthe application installed, and send the user's social network accountidentifier and the application identifier to application logn/registration manager 520.

Application log in/registration manager 520 receives the social networkaccount identifier and installs the requested application, such as bystoring the received social network account identifier in userinformation storage 524 associated with the application identifier.

Social network server 440 may also, at any time, allow social networkusers to create and/or set up social network groups in a conventionalmanner as described above, for example, a conventional FACEBOOK group,and also allows social network users to become members of such socialnetwork groups using conventional techniques. A group is an associationof users that users may opt into our out of on their own or withpermission of a moderator. In one embodiment, a user may create and/orset up a social network group using social network server 440, whichcreates and internally stores a unique group identifier associated withthe social network account identifier corresponding to the socialnetwork user who has set up such group, along with any other settingscorresponding to the group, such as any administrative privileges or anysettings which define the other users that may or may not join and/orview such group on the social network. For any social network usersjoining a social network group which as been so created and set up,social network server 440 may store the social network accountidentifier of the user joining the group in association with the groupidentifier corresponding to the group.

In one embodiment, a user who is or joins (i.e. becoming a member of) asocial network group may provide an indication as to whether or not theuser wishes to share his or her watchlist information with other membersof that social network group via a user interface provided by displaymanager 522. In one embodiment, display manager 522 repeatedly queriessocial network servers 440 to identify groups each user who hasinstalled the application is a member of and the first time it receivessuch information and at any time it receives information that a user hasjoined a group, it prompts the user to identify with which groups theuser would like to share his or her watch list. A specially designatedwatch list on non-social network server system 450 may be used for suchsharing purposes as described herein. If the user provides such anindication, display manager 522 receives it and stores into userinformation storage 524 the indication associated with the user's socialnetwork account identifier and the group identifier.

When the social network user installs the application, application login/registration manager 520 may cause social network server 440 torequest, and/or the user may grant, social network permissions to allowthe application to access social network user name and groupsinformation corresponding to the user's social network account,including any social network groups of which the user is a member aswell as the other social network users that are also members of suchgroup(s), as described above.

The user may grant such social network permissions, such as by pressingor clicking an agreement link or button displayed by application login/registration manager 520 and social network server 440. If the usergrants the social network permissions, social network server 440internally stores such permission in memory or disk storage. At any timesubsequent to when the permissions are granted social network servermanager 440 may provide the user's social network groups information,described above, or provide access to such information, when requested,in the manner described above and below.

Once the user has successfully installed the application and granted anysocial network permissions corresponding to the application, socialnetwork server 440 may run the application in a conventional manner.Additionally, at any time subsequent to the first time, the socialnetwork user may log in to his or her social network account on socialnetwork server 440 and provide an indication to run the installedapplication, such as by clicking a link or button to do so, and socialnetwork server 440 complies.

To run the application, social network server 440 may send the user'ssocial network account identifier to application log in/registrationmanager 520, which receives the social network account identifier anddetermines whether the received social network account identifier isassociated with one or more non-social network account identifiers inuser information storage 524.

If the social network account identifier received is not associated witha non-social network account identifier in user information storage 524(such as is the case the first time that the user runs the application),application log in/registration manager 520 may cause the user's browseron user system 410 to pop a new secure window, such as via conventionalHTTPS communication techniques, including suitable user interfaceelements to allow the user to provide non-social network log ininformation, such as the user's non-social network username andpassword, and return it to the user's browser in response. The user mayprovide such information which application log in/registration manager520 receives and authenticates to non-social network server system 450as described above. Non-social network server system 450 compares theinformation to that which it internally stores in memory or diskstorage. In one embodiment, if application log in/registration manager520 does not authenticate the user's non-social network log ininformation, or if application log in/registration manager 520 does notreceive any non-social network log in information, then application login/registration manager 520 does not associate the user's social networkaccount identifier with any non-social network account identifier, asdescribed in more detail above and below, and application login/registration manager 520 may halt the application and/or wait untilsuch non-social network log in information is received andauthenticated.

If application log in/registration manager 520 authenticates the user'snon-social network log in information, then application login/registration manager 520 associates the user's social network accountidentifier with a non-social network account identifier corresponding tothe non-social network log in information that was received andauthenticated by storing such non-social network account identifier inuser information storage 524 associated with the social network accountidentifier. In one embodiment, such non-social network accountidentifier may be an opaque or disguised account identifiercorresponding to the user's non-social network account, as describedabove.

When application log in/registration manager 520 has associated theuser's social network account identifier with a non-social networkaccount identifier in user information storage 524, as well as if at anysubsequent time application log in/registration manager 520 determinesthat the received social network account identifier is or has beenassociated with a non-social network account identifier in userinformation storage 524, application log in/registration manager 520signals display manager 522 to display the user's socially sharedwatchlist. In one embodiment, application log in/registration manager520 may signal display manager 522 with the user's non-social networkaccount identifier, or with the user's social network accountidentifier, or both, and display manager 522 receives the signal andidentifier. In another embodiment, application log in/registrationmanager 520 signals display manager 522 and stores a conventionalcookie, including the user's social and/or non-social networkidentifier, on the user's user system 410, and signal display manager522 receives such signal and identifies the user using conventionalcookie techniques.

When signaled, display manager 522 receives or identifies the user'ssocial (and/or non-social) network account identifier; sets a timeoutperiod corresponding to the received identifier, as described above;retrieves social network groups information corresponding to the socialnetwork account identifier from social network server 440 including useridentifiers of each user in each group that includes the user asdescribed above; identifies by retrieving from user information storage524 the viewing mode associated with the non-social network accountidentifier (which may be a default mode if the user hasn't selectedone); retrieves from non-social network server system 450 the securityidentifiers (e.g. stock symbols) in the watch lists of each user of thegroup of which the user is a member who has agreed to share his watchlist with that group and who has a user identifier on the non-socialnetwork server system 450 that is associated in user information storage524 with a user identifier on a social network server 440 as well as thewatch list of the user (if not so shared), sorts items in the user'ssocially shared watchlist (as described with respect to FIG. 3); anddisplays the socially shared watchlist for the user according to theviewing mode identified, including any ticker symbols with theircorresponding ticker symbol information and any associated comments withprofile pictures, as described in more detail above and below. Displaymanager 552 retrieves such information from user information storage 524and from social network servers 440 and non-social network server system450 to provide such sorted display. In one embodiment, comments andother information stored into user information storage 524 as describedherein are stored with the date and time of the comment or otherinformation. In one embodiment, display manager 552 retrieves currentprice information and price change information from quotation server 460and displays it as described above.

In one embodiment, to set the timeout period, display manager 522 maysignal operating system 524 with a timeout period, such as one minute orthirty seconds, as described above. Operating system 524 receives thetimeout period, sets a timer accordingly, and notifies display manager522 whenever the timeout period has ended.

When display manager 522 has set the timeout period displays the user'ssocially shared watchlist in the manner described herein, displaymanager 522 also displays suitable user interface elements, such as oneor more links, to allow the user to indicate any number of actions,including making changes to the user's individual watchlist, ratingother users that are also members of one or more of the user's socialnetwork group or groups, changing the viewing mode corresponding to theuser's socially shared watchlist, commenting on items included in theuser's social watchlist (i.e. those of the user and others who haveagreed to share their watchlist or watchlists to members of groups ofwhich the user is a member), and/or any other actions, as describedabove.

If the user requests to make changes to the user's individual watchlist,such as a by clicking the ink to change the user's watchlist, providedby display manager 522, application watchlist manager 530 receives arequest from such click, and provides suitable user elements to allowthe user to change any ticker symbols included in his or her watchlist,for example, by displaying an add item button corresponding to anyticker symbols displayed with the user's socially shared watchlist thatis not already included in the user's individual watchlist, and/ordisplaying a text field to allow the user to provide one or more tickersymbols, or company names corresponding to ticker symbols, to add to, ordelete from, the user's individual watchlist, and/or by displaying adelete button corresponding to any ticker symbols currently included inthe user's individual watchlist that the user wishes to remove.

If the user indicates to make a change to the watchlist, such as byclicking any of the change watchlist buttons or links displayed byapplication watchlist manager 530, then application watchlist manager530 receives such indication from the user, including the indication andthe ticker symbol corresponding to the indication, and applicationwatchlist manager 530 sends the non-social network user identifiercorresponding to such user to non-social network server 450 along withthe received ticker symbol and a signal to add or delete such tickersymbol as indicated by the user. The user may log into non-socialnetwork server system 450 to maintain their watch list on such serversystem in a conventional fashion. Social network servers 440 may be thesame as or distinct from non-social network server system 450. In oneembodiment, application watchlist manager 530 may identify the user'snon-social network identifier using conventional cookie techniques, asdescribed above, or application watchlist manager 530 may identify asocial network identifier using such cookie techniques and then identifythe non-social network identifier corresponding to such social networkidentifier in user information storage 524.

When application watchlist manager 530 has so signaled non-socialnetwork server 450, application watchlist manager 530 signals displaymanager 522 with the social or non-social network account identifier toredisplay watchlist information, and display manager 522 receives thesignal and complies.

If the user requests to rate other social network users that are alsomembers of one or more of the user's social network groups, such as byclicking the link to do so as described above, application ratingmanager 532 receives a request from the click and provides suitable userinterface elements, such as via a new browser window, to allow the userto provide the ratings information corresponding to other members of theuser's social network group or groups as described above. In oneembodiment, application rating manager 532 may display, such as in alist, a profile picture and/or social network user identifiercorresponding to each other user who is sharing their watchlist with theuser and for which the user may provide ratings information, along withthe user interface elements to allow the user to rate such other users,which may include a rating scale that the user may click to provide thedesired rating, and return the rating to the user's browser in response.The user provides such ratings information as desired, applicationrating manager 532 receives it, and application rating manager 532stores such received ratings information, including the received ratingand the social network user identifier corresponding to the other userthat is being rated, in user information storage 524 associated with theuser identifier of the viewing user that has provided such ratingsinformation.

If the user requests to change the viewing mode corresponding to thesocially shared watchlist for such user as described above, applicationmode manager 534 receives the click, and application mode manager 534may provide and display one or more buttons or links corresponding tovarious viewing options that the user may select, as described above. Ifthe user presses any of such links or buttons displayed, applicationmode manager 534 receives the viewing mode selected by the user, such asvia the link clicked, stores the received viewing mode selection in userinformation storage 524 associated with the user's social and/ornon-social network account identifiers, and signals display manager 522,along with the user's social or non-social network account identifier,to redisplay watchlist information corresponding to such identifiers,and display manager 522 complies.

If the user submits a comment with respect to any of the ticker symbolsincluded in the socially shared watchlist, such as by entering a commentin a text field provided by display manager 522 and pressing a submitcomment link or button also provided by display manager 522, applicationwatchlist manager 530 receives such comment submitted by the user andstores such received comment in user information storage 524 associatedwith the ticker symbol for which such comment was received, the date andtime, and the social and/or non-social network account identifiercorresponding to the user who has made the comment, as described above.Application comment manager 536 may signal display manager 522, alongwith the identifier(s), to redisplay watchlist information correspondingto such identifier or identifiers, as described above.

When display manager 522 receives a signal and social and/or non-socialnetwork identifier from any of elements 530, 532, 534, or 536, it sets anew timeout period by signaling operating system 524 in the mannerdescribed above, and initiates a new iteration of retrieving andchecking social network groups information from non-social networkserver 450, and sorting and displaying the socially shared watchlistcorresponding to the received identifier in the manner described above.In one embodiment, the user may indicate one of any number of actions atany number of times, and display manager 522 may redisplay the sociallyshared watchlist any number of times.

In one embodiment, display manager 522 may also redisplay sociallyshared watchlist information in the manner described herein if displaymanager 522 receives a signal from operating system 524 that the end ofthe current timeout period has been reached. When display manager 522receives such a signal from operating system 524, display manager 522signals operating system 524 with a new timeout period, which operatingsystem 524 receives, and display manager 522 redisplays the sociallyshared watchlist Information as described herein.

SUMMARY

There is shown a method of displaying securities information includingreceiving from a first server including a social network server a useridentifier of each user on the first server in at least one groupdefined to the first server, each of the at least one group includingtwo or more users interested in sharing securities information with oneanother; receiving from each of the plurality of users in each of the atleast one group a user identifier of said user at a second server; foreach of at least some of the plurality of users in the at least onegroup, associating the user identifier of said user on the first serverwith the user identifier of said user on the second server; receivingfrom the second server including a hardware processor, from each of twoor more at least some of the plurality of users in the at least onegroup, a list of securities in which said user is interested; providingfor display to each of at least some of the plurality of the users inthe at least one group, two or more symbols corresponding to two or moresecurities from the lists of each of the at least some of the pluralityof users of the at least one group that includes such user, responsiveto the plurality of lists of securities and the plurality of useridentifiers on the first server of the at least one group; receivingfrom each of at least some of the plurality of the at least one group,at least one comment about at least one of the securities correspondingto the plurality of symbols displayed; and providing for display to eachof the plurality of users in the at least one group to which theplurality of symbols are displayed, the at least one comment associatedwith the symbol of the security about which the at least one comment isdirected, and a price of the security corresponding to the symbol.

The method may additionally include receiving from each of two or morethe users of the at least one group, at least one rating of each of atleast some of the other users of the at least one group having such userand such other user in common; and may include an optional featurewhereby the symbols are displayed in an order responsive to at leastsome of each of the at least one rating of the plurality of users fromwhom comments regarding the security corresponding to the symbol werereceived.

The method may include an optional feature whereby the ratings to whichthe order is responsive are influenced at least more heavily by ratingsreceived from the user for which the symbols and comments are beingprovided for display than other users from which comments may have beenreceived.

The method may include an optional feature whereby the at least onegroup comprises two or more groups, and the symbols, prices and commentsare displayed responsive to each of the groups in the plurality ofgroups.

The method may include an optional feature whereby each of the pluralityof symbols are displayed responsive to a number of users in at least oneof the at least one group from which the security corresponding to saidsymbol were received.

The method may include an optional feature whereby each of the pluralityof symbols are displayed responsive to a number of users in at least oneof the at least one group from which comments about the securitycorresponding to said symbol were received on said user's list.

There is shown a system for displaying securities information including:a log in registration manager having an input coupled for receiving froma first server including a social network server a user identifier ofeach user on the first server in at least one group defined to the firstsever, each of the at least one group including two or more usersinterested in sharing securities information with one another, and forreceiving from each of the plurality of users a user identifier of saiduser on a second server, the log in registration manager for providingat an output the user identifiers of each of the plurality of users ineach of the at least one group received at the log in registrationmanager input associated with the user identifier of said user at thenon-social network server; the second server having an input forreceiving from each of two or more at least some of the plurality ofusers in the at least one group, a list of securities in which said useris interested, associated with the user identifier of said user on thesecond server, the second server for providing at an output the list ofsecurities in which each said user is interested; a display managerhaving an input coupled to the second server for receiving the list ofsecurities in which each of at least some of the plurality of users inthe at least one group are interested, and to the log in registrationmanager for receiving the user identifiers of each of the plurality ofusers in each of the at least one group associated with the useridentifier of said user at the non-social network server, the displaymanager for providing at an output for display to each of at least someof the plurality of the users in the at least one group, two or moresymbols corresponding to two or more securities from the lists of eachof the at least some of the plurality of users of the at least one groupthat includes such user, responsive to the plurality of lists ofsecurities and the plurality of user identifiers of the at least onegroup; and an application comment manager having an input for receivingfrom each of at least some of plurality of members of the at least onegroup, at least one comment about at least one of the securitiescorresponding to the plurality of symbols displayed by the displaymanager, the application comment manager for providing at an output saidat least one comment and an identifier of the securities correspondingto the comment; and whereby:

the display manager input is additionally coupled to the applicationcomment manager output for receiving the at least one comment and theidentifier of the security corresponding to the at least one comment;and

the display manager is additionally for providing at the display manageroutput for display to each of the plurality of users in the at least onegroup to which it displays the plurality of symbols, each of the atleast of the comment, associated with the symbol about which the commentis directed and a price of the security corresponding to the symbolreceived at the display manager input.

The system may additionally include an application rating manager havingan input for receiving from each of two or more the users of the atleast one group, at least one rating of each of at least some of theother users of the at least one group having such user and such otheruser in common, the application rating manager for providing each of theat least one rating at an output; and may include an optional featurewhereby: the display manager input is additionally coupled to theapplication 5′1 rating manager output for receiving each of the at leastone rating; and the display manager displays the symbols in an orderresponsive to at least some of the at least one rating of the pluralityof users from whom comments regarding the security corresponding to thesymbol were received.

The system may include an optional feature whereby: the applicationrating manager additionally provides at the output, and the displaymanager input is additionally for receiving, an identifier of the userfrom which each rating was received; and the ratings to which the orderis responsive are influenced at least more heavily by ratings receivedfrom the user for which the symbols and comments are being provided fordisplay by display manager than other users from which comments may havebeen received.

The system may include an optional feature whereby the at least onegroup comprises two or more groups, and the symbols, prices and commentsare displayed by the display manager responsive to each of the groups inthe plurality of groups.

The system may include an optional feature whereby each of the pluralityof symbols are displayed by display manager responsive to a number ofusers in at least one of the at least one group from which the securitycorresponding to said symbol were received on each said user's list.

The system may include an optional feature whereby each of the pluralityof symbols are displayed by the display manager responsive to a numberof users in at least one of the at least one group from which commentsabout the security corresponding to said symbol were received.

There is shown a computer program product including a computer useablemedium having computer readable program code embodied therein fordisplaying securities Information the computer program product includingcomputer readable program code devices configured to cause a computersystem to: receive from a first server including a social network servera user identifier of each user on the first server in at least one groupdefined to the first server, each of the at least one group includingtwo or more users interested in sharing securities information with oneanother; receive from each of the plurality of users in each of the atleast one group a user identifier of said user at a second server; foreach of at least some of the plurality of users in the at least onegroup, associate the user identifier of said user on the first serverwith the user identifier of said user on the second server; receive fromthe second server including a hardware processor, from each of two ormore at least some of the plurality of users in the at least one group,a list of securities in which said user is interested; provide fordisplay to each of at least some of the plurality of the users in the atleast one group, two or more symbols corresponding to two or moresecurities from the lists of each of the at least some of the pluralityof users of the at least one group that includes such user, responsiveto the plurality of lists of securities and the plurality of useridentifiers on the first server of the at least one group; receive fromeach of at least some of the plurality of the at least one group, atleast one comment about at least one of the securities corresponding tothe plurality of symbols displayed; and provide for display to each ofthe plurality of users in the at least one group to which the pluralityof symbols are displayed, the at least one comment associated with thesymbol of the security about which the at least one comment is directed,and a price of the security corresponding to the symbol.

The computer program product may additionally including computerreadable program code devices configured to cause the computer system toreceive from each of two or more the users of the at least one group, atleast one rating of each of at least some of the other users of the atleast one group having such user and such other user in common; and mayinclude an optional feature whereby the symbols are displayed in anorder responsive to at least some of each of the at least one rating ofthe plurality of users from whom comments regarding the securitycorresponding to the symbol were received.

The computer program product may include an optional feature whereby theratings to which the order is responsive are influenced at least moreheavily by ratings received from the user for which the symbols andcomments are being provided for display than other users from whichcomments may have been received.

The computer program product may include an optional feature whereby theat least one group comprises two or more groups, and the symbols, pricesand comments are displayed responsive to each of the groups in theplurality of groups.

The computer program product may include an optional feature wherebyeach of the plurality of symbols are displayed responsive to a number ofusers in at least one of the at least one group from which the securitycorresponding to said symbol were received.

The computer program product may include an optional feature wherebyeach of the plurality of symbols are displayed responsive to a number ofusers in at least one of the at least one group from which commentsabout the security corresponding to said symbol were received on saiduser's list.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of displaying securities informationcomprising; receiving from a first server comprising a social networkserver, a user identifier of each user on the first server in at leastone group defined to the first server, each of the at least one groupcomprising a first plurality of users interested in sharing thesecurities information with one another; receiving from each of thefirst plurality of users in each of the at least one group a useridentifier of said user at a second server; for each of at least some ofthe first plurality of users in the at least one group, associating theuser identifier of said user on the first server with the useridentifier of said user on the second server; receiving from the secondserver comprising a hardware processor, from each of a second pluralityof at least some of the first plurality of users in the at least onegroup, a list of securities; receiving from each of a third plurality ofthe users of the at least one group, at least one rating value from arange of possible rating values of each of at least some of the otherusers of the at least one group having such user and such other user incommon; providing for display to each of at least some of the firstplurality of the users in the at least one group, a plurality of symbolscorresponding to a plurality of securities from the lists of each of theat least some of the second plurality of users of the at least one groupthat includes such user, responsive to the plurality of lists ofsecurities and the plurality of user identifiers on the first server ofthe at least one group; receiving from each of at least some of thefirst plurality of users of the at least one group, at least one commentabout at least one of the securities corresponding to the plurality ofsymbols displayed; and providing for display to each of the firstplurality of users in the at least one group to which the plurality ofsymbols are displayed, the at least one comment associated with thesymbol of the security about which the at least one comment is directed;and wherein the symbols are displayed in an order responsive to at leastsome of each of the at least one rating value given to the plurality ofusers from whom comments regarding the security corresponding to thesymbol were received.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the commentassociated with the symbol of the security is provided for display withan identifier of each of the second plurality of users from whom thelist of securities included that security.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the rating values to which the order is responsive areinfluenced at least more heavily by rating values received from eachuser for which the symbols and comments are being provided for displaythan other users from which comments may have been received.
 4. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the at least one group comprises a pluralityof groups, and the symbols and comments are displayed responsive to eachof the groups in the plurality of groups.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein each of the plurality of symbols are displayed responsive to anumber of users in at least one of the at least one group from which thesecurity corresponding to said symbol were received.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein each of the plurality of symbols are displayedresponsive to a number of users in at least one of the at least onegroup from which comments about the security corresponding to saidsymbol were received on said user's list.
 7. A system for displayingsecurities information comprising: a log in registration manager havingan input coupled for receiving from a first server comprising a socialnetwork server, a user identifier of each user on the first server in atleast one group defined to the first sever, each of the at least onegroup comprising a first plurality of users interested in sharingsecurities information with one another, and for receiving from each ofthe first plurality of users a user identifier of said user on a secondserver, the log in registration manager for providing at an output theuser identifiers of each of the first plurality of users in each of theat least one group received at the log in registration manager input,associated with the user identifier of said user at the second server;the second server having an input for receiving from each of a secondplurality of at least some of the first plurality of users in the atleast one group, a list of securities associated with the useridentifier of said user on the second server, the second server forproviding at an output the list of securities; an application ratingmanager having an input for receiving from each of a third plurality ofthe users of the at least one group, at least one rating value from arange of possible rating values of each of at least some other users ofthe at least one group having such user and such other user in common,the application rating manager for providing each of the at least onerating value at an output; a display manager having an input coupled tothe second server output for receiving the list of securities of each ofat least some of the second plurality of users in the at least onegroup, and to the log in registration manager output for receiving theuser identifiers of each of the first plurality of users in each of theat least one group, associated with the user identifier at the secondserver of each said user in each of the at least one group, and to theapplication rating manager output for receiving each of the at least onerating value, the display manager for providing at an output for displayto each of at least some of the first plurality of the users in the atleast one group, a plurality of symbols corresponding to a plurality ofsecurities from the lists of each of the at least some of the firstplurality of users of the at least one group that includes such user,responsive to the plurality of lists of securities and the plurality ofuser identifiers of the at least one group, and in an order responsiveto at least some of the at least one rating value given to the pluralityof users from whom comments regarding the security corresponding to thesymbol were received; and an application comment manager having an inputfor receiving from each of at least some of the first plurality of usersof the at least one group, at least one comment about at least one ofthe securities corresponding to the plurality of symbols displayed bythe display manager, the application comment manager for providing at anoutput said at least one comment and an identifier of the securitiescorresponding to the at least one comment; and wherein; the displaymanager input is additionally coupled to the application comment manageroutput for receiving the at least one comment and the identifier of thesecurity corresponding to the at least one comment; and the displaymanager is additionally for providing at the display manager output fordisplay to each of the plurality of users in the at least one group towhich it displays the plurality of symbols, each of the at least of thecomment, associated with the symbol about which the comment is directed.8. The system of claim 7, wherein the comment associated with the symbolof the security is provided for display with an identifier of each ofthe second plurality of users from whom the list of securities includedthat security.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein: the application ratingmanager additionally provides at the application rating manager output,and the display manager input is additionally for receiving, anidentifier of the user from which each rating value was received; andthe rating values to which the order is responsive are influenced atleast more heavily by rating values received from each user for whichthe symbols and comments are being provided for display by displaymanager than other users from which comments may have been received. 10.The system of claim 7 wherein the at least one group comprises aplurality of groups, and the symbols and comments are displayed by thedisplay manager responsive to each of the groups in the plurality ofgroups.
 11. The system of claim 7, wherein each of the plurality ofsymbols are displayed by the display manager responsive to a number ofusers in at least one of the at least one group from which the securitycorresponding to said symbol were received on each said user's list. 12.The system of claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of symbols aredisplayed by the display manager responsive to a number of users in atleast one of the at least one group from which comments about thesecurity corresponding to said symbol were received.
 13. A computerprogram product comprising a non-transitory computer useable mediumhaving computer readable program code embodied therein for displayingsecurities information the computer program product comprising computerreadable program code devices configured to cause a computer system to:receive from a first server comprising a social network server, a useridentifier of each user on the first server in at least one groupdefined to the first server, each of the at least one group comprising afirst plurality of users interested in sharing the securitiesinformation with one another; receive from each of the first pluralityof users in each of the at least one group a user identifier of saiduser at a second server; for each of at least some of the firstplurality of users in the at least one group, associate the useridentifier of said user on the first server with the user identifier ofsaid user on the second server; receive from the second servercomprising a hardware processor, from each of a second plurality of atleast some of the first plurality of users in the at least one group, alist of securities; receive from each of a third plurality of the usersof the at least one group, at least one rating value from a range ofpossible rating values of each of at least some of the other users ofthe at least one group having such user and such other user in common;provide for display to each of at least some of the first plurality ofthe users in the at least one group, a plurality of symbolscorresponding to a plurality of securities from the lists of each of theat least some of the second plurality of users of the at least one groupthat includes such user, responsive to the plurality of lists ofsecurities and the plurality of user identifiers on the first server ofthe at least one group; receive from each of at least some of the firstplurality of users in the at least one group, at least one comment aboutat least one of the securities corresponding to the plurality of symbolsdisplayed; and provide for display to each of the first plurality ofusers in the at least one group to which the plurality of symbols aredisplayed, the at least one comment associated with the symbol of thesecurity about which the at least one comment is directed; and whereinthe symbols are displayed in an order responsive to at least some ofeach of the at least one rating value given to the plurality of usersfrom whom comments regarding the security corresponding to the symbolwere received.
 14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein thecomment associated with the symbol of the security is provided fordisplay with an identifier of each of the second plurality of users fromwhom the list of securities included that security.
 15. The computerprogram product of claim 13, wherein the rating values to which theorder is responsive are influenced at least more heavily by ratingvalues received from each user for which the symbols and comments arebeing provided for display than other users from which comments may havebeen received.
 16. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein theat least one group comprises a plurality of groups, and the symbols andcomments are displayed responsive to each of the groups in the pluralityof groups.
 17. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein each ofthe plurality of symbols are displayed responsive to a number of usersin at least one of the at least one group from which the securitycorresponding to said symbol were received.
 18. The computer programproduct of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of symbols aredisplayed responsive to a number of users in at least one of the atleast one group from which comments about the security corresponding tosaid symbol were received on said user's list.